Jessica earns a base salary of $300.00 every week with an additional 15% commission on everything she sells. If Jessica sold $1650.00 worth of items last week, what was her total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $15\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{15}{100}$ which is also equal to $15 \div 100$ $15 \div 100 = 0.15$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.15$ $\times$ $$1650.00$ $=$ $$247.50$ We can find the total salary for Jessica by adding the amount of commission made to her base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$247.50$ $+$ $$300.00$ $=$ $$547.50$ The total salary Jessica made last week was $$547.50$.